Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 520 Searching for People

"Compensation?" The woman wiped away her tears. "What use is money to me now that he's gone?"

"Sister, I know money can't bring you back," the staff member sighed. "But if you make a scene, you won't get anything out of it."

You said your husband went because he heard it from someone else. We will definitely investigate who this "someone else" is.

Spreading false information and misleading the public is a serious offense. Please go back and wait for news. Once the matter is investigated, we will definitely give you an explanation.

The woman opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but the young woman behind her grabbed her arm.

The two whispered a few words, and the woman's tears welled up again, but she didn't make a scene. With the help of several people, she slowly walked down the steps.

The crowd automatically parted to make way, watching the dark red cotton-padded coat disappear at the end of the square.

When Xu Xiaoyan returned to the shop, it was already past four in the afternoon.

She took out a kettle from her spatial storage, poured a cup of hot water, held it in both hands, and drank it sip by sip. The hot water flowed down her throat, and the warmth slowly spread.

She began to recall the entire chain of events that had occurred today.

The news came from the owner of Blue Moon, and she said it with certainty.

When he left, he said he had made a false excuse to pee, and was afraid that the boss would suspect him, so Xu Xiaoyan believed him and didn't think much of it.

It wasn't because she was careless, but because the person who said those words was Lan Yue.

Lan Yue wasn't the type to speak carelessly. She hadn't known Xu Xiaoyan for very long, but over the past few months, the trust between them was unquestionable.

That's the downside of being too familiar with someone; you have no reason to doubt them and blindly believe them.

Xu Xiaoyan sighed, finished the rest of the water in her glass in one gulp, and the glass made a crisp sound as it hit the table.

Actually, she had her suspicions. When she bought the fishing net at the tackle shop, the shopkeeper said, "Several people came to buy nets this morning," and she should have realized that something was wrong.

If it were truly a legitimate dam release, the information should not be circulating only within a small circle, but should be known to everyone in the entire city of Qingcheng.

But at that time, all she could think about was fish—how to catch more and store more. Her reason was completely suppressed by her desires, and she didn't even have the thought of doubting anything.

As the saying goes, "once bitten, twice shy," Xu Xiaoyan knew that she would never believe any rumors again.

No matter who says it, no matter how reliable the speaker is, no matter how tempting the news sounds, if it's not an official announcement, don't believe it.

What happened today taught her more lessons than she had in the past two years combined; the tuition fee almost cost her her life.

She leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and mentally set three rules for herself.

First, when you hear any news in the future, check the official announcement first. If you can't find it, just pretend you didn't hear it.

Secondly, no matter how deep your relationship with anyone, you must verify the information that needs to be verified. Trust is trust, and life is life.

Article 3: For any activity involving "going to the wilderness", "going to the mountains", or "going to the river", the worst-case scenario should be planned in advance.

Then she thought of Blue Moon. She said that all the staff in the store were on vacation and went downstream to catch fish. Did she manage to escape in time when the water level rose?

Xu Xiaoyan sat up abruptly. Instead of sitting here lost in thought, she decided to go find him.

The door to Lan Yue's house was closed. She reached out and knocked, but after a few seconds there was no response.

She knocked three more times, not too hard, not too soft, the sound echoing briefly in the empty hallway before falling silent.

No one answered.

Xu Xiaoyan took a step back, looking at the tightly closed door, her brows furrowed.

not at home.

Is he not back yet, or...? She quickly interrupted the thought.

Perhaps Blue Moon is still helping out at the store? Today, with the flood discharge, so many people were trapped downstream, and most of the fishermen returned empty-handed.

Lan Yue's shop is probably in a mess too, with everyone busy cleaning up and taking stock of the losses.

Xu Xiaoyan turned around and went downstairs, heading towards the shop where Lan Yue worked.

As a result, the shop door was closed, and the roller shutter was pulled tight, so you couldn't see anything inside from the outside.

There was a piece of paper pasted on the wall by the door, with black and white text printed on it. Xu Xiaoyan leaned over and took a look.

"Due to internal adjustments, our store is temporarily closed. We will announce the reopening date later."

There was no date, no signature, no contact number; it was just a cold, formatted blank sheet of paper, devoid of any information.

Xu Xiaoyan stood in front of the paper, staring at the line of text for a long time.

Internal restructuring? Temporary closure?

This morning, Lan Yue was talking to her about this shop. Her boss said that the dam was going to release a lot of water, so all the staff were on leave and went downstream to catch fish.

A store that was planning a full-time holiday today suddenly made "internal adjustments"? This doesn't seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision; it seems more like it was planned in advance.

Xu Xiaoyan began pacing back and forth on the street. She was not an easily anxious person; on the contrary, she considered herself the type who would remain calm even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of her.

But this time is different; both things today are challenging her patience and emotional control.

She stopped, stood on the side of the street, and looked around.

The store is flanked by shops on both sides; there is a barbershop on the left and a noodle shop on the right.

The barbershop door was open, and inside sat a middle-aged man in a black apron, shaving an old man's head.

The buzzing sound of the electric clippers could be heard intermittently through the glass door.

Xu Xiaoyan pushed open the door of the barbershop and went inside.

"Hello," she said, standing at the doorway, trying to make her voice sound normal. "I'd like to ask about the shop next door."

The barber glanced up at her, his electric clippers still cutting a straight line down the back of the old woman's head: "Next door? It's off."

"I know it's closed, but I want to know when it was closed?"

The barber thought for a moment, then turned off the electric clippers, rubbing his free hand on his apron: "It was on yesterday, but I turned it off today."

When I opened the door in the morning, I saw that the roller shutter was down. I thought the boss was late, but it didn't open until noon. Later, I found that the paper was stuck on the door.

Did you see anything unusual yesterday? Like someone moving things?

The hairdresser's eyebrows twitched, and his gaze lingered on Xu Xiaoyan's face for two seconds, probably trying to figure out why this strange girl was so concerned about what was happening next door.

Xu Xiaoyan met his gaze with a natural expression, neither flinching nor avoiding it.

The barber looked at it for a few seconds, and probably thought there was nothing wrong with it, so he said, "You know what, when I finished work last night, it was around seven o'clock."

I saw a small truck parked in front of the food stall, and several people were loading things onto it; they were loading quite a lot.

He paused for a moment, then added:

"I was wondering why they were moving so late at night, but I didn't ask any more questions. In our line of work, everyone has their own business to manage, and it's not good to interfere in other people's business."